(Statewide) – Chilly temperatures in Indiana mean turning up the thermostat at home, which can pose challenges for families on a tight budget.
Indiana’s Energy Assistance Program provides a one-time annual amount to approved households to help with their heating costs, usually if utilities have been or are about to be disconnected.
Thomas Hartnett-Russell, community programs manager for the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA), said energy costs have risen faster than the general inflation rate this year, which has spurred more requests for relief.
“We had a lot more people that we were seeing who had never been on the program before, might not have been aware of the program before,” Hartnett-Russell observed. “We’re seeing unprecedented numbers of people, I think, who are just having difficulty meeting all of these obligations.”
The program has been around since 1981, but Hartnett-Russell thinks some people still do not know it is an option. He said last year, the program helped more than 122,000 households pay their power bills. You can find the income guidelines and information about how to apply on the website of the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority.
The Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor’s utility shut-off moratorium is another lifesaver for eligible residents. It mandates if a household is approved for assistance, gas and power companies cannot disconnect their service between December 1 and March 15.
Russell-Hartnett stressed the importance of submitting applications before colder weather sets in.
“By encouraging people to apply, by running it primarily as a winter program and encouraging people to apply in the fall and winter, we are actually getting that much more shut-off protection for tens of thousands of households,” Russell-Hartnett reported.
A block grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provides funding for energy assistance. So far this year, about 52,000 Indiana households have been approved, or between 12% and 14% of those who have applied throughout the state.
(Story by our newsgathering partners at Indiana News Service)
